World

9 Essential Questions About Iraq, Answered

President Barack Obama told reporters in a White House briefing on Thursday that he is prepared to send up to 300 military advisors to Iraq. The president also said the U.S. is ready to take “targeted and precise" military action, if needed. But he added that there is “no military solution inside Iraq — certainly not one that is led by the U.S.”

In recent days, radical militants have swept through western and northern Iraq with lightning speed. They've captured huge swaths of territory, caches of weapons and lots of money. Their swift and brutal campaign threatens to break up the country and engulf the region in a brutal sectarian bloodbath.

But if you haven't been following Iraq for years, it could seem like a deeply complex situation to start diving into now. To get you caught up, we've answered your most basic questions.

Why should it matter to me?

If the militants are able to hold the territory they have captured, they could create a safe haven for radicals who might threaten the West much like the Taliban did in Afghanistan before the September 11 attacks.

Whatever one thinks of the U.S. invasion in 2003, American troops spent more than a decade in Iraq in a war in which more than 4,000 American troops died. The war reportedly cost U.S. taxpayers more than $3 trillion dollars.

Is there going to be another war?

Even if the militants aren’t able to capture Baghdad, their swift and brutal advance, which has relied on creating strategic alliances with Sunnis disaffected with the Shiite government, threatens to break up Iraq and unleash a civil war that could spill over into other countries in the region. So, it's possible.

Who are the militants and what do they want?

Known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS, depending on your translation), the militants are a part of a radical Sunni militant group deemed too vicious and violent by al-Qaeda.

It's hard to know exactly how many fighters are in ISIL's ranks. Estimates vary between 10,000 and 15,000 (including 3,000 foreigners), which are spread across Syria and Iraq.

ISIL was recently labelled "the world's richest terrorist organization" with an estimated $2 billion in total assets.

After its recent advances through northern Iraq, ISIL now controls approximately 35,000 square miles — an area roughly size of Maine — according to The Economist.

What's the distinction between ISIL and ISIS?

ISIL and ISIS are different names for the same group. Western news organizations just disagree on the translation of the Arabic name. The United Nations, U.S. State Department and the AP all go with ISIL.

In Arabic, the group is known as Al-Dawla Al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham, or the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. The term “al-Sham” refers to a region stretching from southern Turkey through Syria to Egypt (also including Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan). The group’s stated goal is to restore an Islamic state, or caliphate, in this entire area.

The standard English term for this broad territory is “the Levant.” Therefore, AP’s translation of the group’s name is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.

What's happened in Iraq since the country was last in the news?

Western media organizations had mostly left Iraq by 2011 when the U.S. withdrew its last troops. But violence continued to plague the country as the Shiite government of Nouri al-Maliki alienated the Sunnis by largely shutting them out of the political process.

An al-Qaida-inspired militant stand guard at a checkpoint captured from the Iraqi Army outside Beiji refinery, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, June 19, 2014.

Image: AP Photo/Associated Press

What is the history behind the sectarian differences?

Over the centuries, the two groups have developed doctrinal differences, not unlike the schism between Catholics and Protestants.

The two sects first split more than 1,300 years ago in the year 632 after the death of the Prophet Muhammad when a dispute over the question of succession took place. The Sunnis believed that the most able of the Prophet’s followers should succeed him, and chose Abu Bakr, his father-in-law. Another group, the Shiites, believed the rightful heir was Ali, the prophet’s cousin and son-in-law.

Muslims make up about 23.4% of the world’s population, and the vast majority of the 1.6 billion Muslims are Sunnis. In Iraq and Iran, however, Shiites form the majority of the population.

Will Iraq fall apart?

Iraq as a nation was created in the aftermath of World War I by the British, who drew the borders on the map with little apparent concern for the ethnic and religious groupings in the region, and it is not unthinkable the country will fall apart. The Kurds already have a semi-autonomous region in the north, and the Shiites dominate in the south, where most of the oil is located. If the country disintegrates, the Sunnis will be left with the most impoverished territory in the west.

If the country falls apart, the neighbors, including Shiite-dominated Iran and Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia, are likely to get more directly involved.

What can America do?

There are few good options for the U.S. administration.

President Barack Obama talks about his administration's response to a growing insurgency foothold in Iraq, Friday, June 13, 2014, on the South Lawn of the White House.

Image: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press

President Obama can put pressure on Prime Minister Maliki to resign in the hopes that this will erode any Sunni support for the insurgents. He can also lean on Iraq's neighbors to play a more constructive role in the country and to stop supporting militant proxies. Beyond that, he has the option of air strikes which is complicated by the fact that ISIS is not a conventional army but more akin to an insurgency. It is highly unlikely that the U.S. administration will send a significant number of ground troops to Iraq.

What’s daily life like in Iraq?

Shiite militias are preparing to fight the Sunni militants in Baghdad, but most Iraqis still go to work and send their children to school. However, there are reports that people are stockpiling food and gasoline, and in other ways bracing themselves for the onslaught of the militants. Checkpoints have been erected throughout the capital and there are increased patrols by the Iraqi security forces.

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